Growth opportunity in flavoured milk underplayed
In Issue 6 of its Dairy Index report, which focused on flavoured milk and was published last month, Tetra Pak cited figures indicating sales of flavoured milk would grow by 1% from 2012–2015.
However, Smith said Nielsen Data he had seen for the 52 weeks to the beginning of March indicated UK flavoured milk volume sales rose during that period by 10.9% and 5.3% by value.
“We have been a bit conservative with these figures,” Smith told FoodManufacture.co.uk. “Next year’s figures will be reflective of that.” Innovation in portion packs was driving a lot of the growth and he expected 250ml packs to be “the next big thing”.
Stepped up activity
Dairy giants Arla and Dairy Crest had both stepped up their activity in flavoured milk brands this year, Smith pointed out.
Arla had introduced Wing-Co protein-rich chocolate flavoured milk drink for men and Dairy Crest had extended its Frijj brand into long-life 330ml format, he said. “Arla has made a big step change to take flavour more seriously.”
More generally, there was real pressure in the market to move milk away from being a commodity product, he said.
Health and nutrition provided a big opportunity and a key area could be fortification to address under-consumption of important nutrients. This was a big issue for the Department of Health, said Smith.
‘Resurgence of milk with added benefits’
“You could see a resurgence of milk with added benefits, such as vitamin D. You could easily see a kids’ school product. There’s a driver there.”
In terms of formats, aseptically filled and UHT packs offered a lot of room for expansion, he said. “Virtually all the [UK] NPD [new product development] in 2013 has been in UHT, because of a number of reasons – not just longer shelf-life, but less wastage.”
Of all their variants, the Tetra Pak aseptically filled carton with heliocap, an easy-to-grip, resealable cap that requires just one twist to open, was a huge UK hit, said Smith.
The company was now in the process of rolling out the cap across the UK and “across a number of customers and categories”, he added. “AG Barr is using it on Rubicon and Princes is using it on its branded range.”
